About a year ago my friend, Kasi, asked me if I wanted to go on a hiking trip with her. “My sisters are organizing a hike about forty miles along the Lower Rogue River from Grants Pass, OR, toward Gold Beach, OR. We would stay in lodges along the way, where they provide all … Continue reading We Can Do Hard Things→

Being a military wife definitely has its challenges. Deployments, PCSes, TDYs, long work days, and so much more can be very difficult. But there are a lot of great things about being a military wife and family. For this blog post I want to focus on some of the good things about military life. 1. … Continue reading The Good→

My oldest son, Tyler, his first time meeting SantaThe first Christmas I ever spent with Jim deployed happened to be the first Christmas for our son, Tyler. Jim deployed in October 2005, just two months after our first son, Tyler, was born. When Tyler was born we were stationed in Hawaii (I know real rough). … Continue reading Merry Christmas→

Five years ago today I gave birth to my youngest son, Ben. Ben’s early arrival, like so much of military life, was not part of the plan. The events surrounding Ben’s birth mirrored what most of our life as a military family had been. Nothing ever seemed to be simple or go as planned, and … Continue reading Ben’s Birthday→

Years ago when my son, Tyler, was about four years old, and my daughter, Payton, was about two I went to a local Fred Meyer’s store to do some shopping. For those of you not on the west coast, Fred Meyer’s is a store along the lines of a Target or Walmart. It has … Continue reading Please Excuse This Tantrum, His Dad is Deployed→

For most of my life Thanksgiving meant family. Thanksgiving does not get all the commercialism of so many of the other holidays, there are no presents or decorations galore. For me, Thanksgiving has always been a day for family, a day to eat a meal and relax together. Being married to someone in the military … Continue reading Happy Thanksgiving→

One of my favorite authors, Jen Hatmaker, has a podcast called, “For the Love”, where one of the last questions she asks her guests is, “What is saving your life right now?” I’ve thought a lot about what my answer would be if someone asked me that question. As I think about it, there have … Continue reading What is saving your life right now?→